


Day 3: New Beginnings

by JustATransBuddy



Series: Cassunzel Week 2020 [3]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cassunzel Week, Cassunzel Week 2020 (Disney), F/F, Friends to Lovers, I still don't know how to tag please help, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25432036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustATransBuddy/pseuds/JustATransBuddy
Summary: Rapunzel runs away form home and meets runaway Cassandra and eventually they fall in love and start building a life together.
Relationships: Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled)
Series: Cassunzel Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837786
Comments: 1
Kudos: 40





	Day 3: New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to day three!
> 
> I put in a couple references to the show. Can you spot them all?
> 
> I hope you all enjoy it.

Her heart was beating fast. She had to keep running. Trees whooshing by her as she weaved her way through the trees. She emerged and came to a halt. A highway ahead of her, the only thing between her and her freedom. She looked back and saw flashlights in the woods, she heard dogs barking, she couldn't believe her mother would do this. Go to these lengths just to control her.

She had to act fast. She looked left and saw no cars coming and ran across the first half. The second half was a lot busier. Cars coming from the right with barely any spaces between them. Then her moment came. She ran across. When she was on the most right lane a car started honking at her. She nearly got hit, she had to dodge the car and crashed into the railing but she made it. Now she needed to put as much distance between her and the cops.

She climbed over the railing and started to run again. Her lungs were burning and she had the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had started to rise and was now shining brightly in her eyes. She'd stopped running a while ago in favor of walking. She's just too tired.

She expected to run into a town by now but she guessed not.

She continued walking until she reached a road, she decided to follow it. This surely would lead her to a town. Eventually she passed a sign telling her the next town was still a few miles away. She'd been walking for hours now and was starting to get hungry, but more importantly thirsty. The sun was blazing hot. She wished she'd packed supplies before running away. Then again everything had happened so fast she didn't have any time.

After another hour of walking she spotted the town in the distance. She wanted to run from happiness but didn't, beining just too tired and having to conserve her energy.

She walked through the streets she's been reading about her whole life. It was different than she'd imagined it all to be. Having grown up sheltered away from the world, never being allowed to leave the house, she didn’t know anything about what life was like outside of the books she was allowed to read. The people were less friendly than she expected them to be. She'd asked a stranger on the street if he had any water for her and he'd called her names and asked her to do things for him. He'd asked her to get on her knees and suck him off. She'd backed away from the man, turned around and kept walking in the opposite direction. He'd yelled after her calling her a 'slut' and a 'whore'. She knew what the words meant but she didn't expect people to use them so casually like that. The real world was very different from the one she imagined. She always imagined her mother had over exaggerated when she said that the world was filled with horrible people. But she guess her mother was right.

She got to a little town square with a fountain in the middle. She sat down on the edge and splashed water in her face before trying to drink it. But once the water touched her lips she could taste it wasn't drinking water.

"Don't you know you can't drink water from a fountain. If you want drinking water I suggest you use one of the drinking fountains over there." A girl said. She couldn't be much older than her. The girl sat on the ground with a guitar on her lap and an open guitar case in front of her, filled with a few coins. The girl had dark hair, she had green eyes but not as vibrant a green as her own. She was wearing a black hoodie, with the hood up and over it she wore a denim jacket despite it being quite hot outside. The jacket did have some cool buttons and patches on it with logos of bands she’s never heard of. At least she thought they were bands. One of the buttons was a rainbow, she’s always liked rainbows.

"Uh thanks" she said and walked over to the drinking fountain.

She'd read about them but didn't know how they worked. She heard the girl strumming her guitar behind her.

She fumbled for a bit before the strumming stopped and girl came over and helped her out.

"First time mother let you out?" The girl said, causing her to nearly choke on the water she was drinking.

"What? No, why would you think- how do you" she said defensively 

"Relax it's just a figure of speech. You look new, like you've never been outside before. Innocent, not yet corrupted by this world. My name is Cassandra" the girl said holding out her hand for her to shake.

"Why are you helping me?" She asked not yet convinced of the strangers good intent.

"I'm just showing you how to use a drinking fountain. My social worker used to tell me all the time how I had to do one good thing every day. I thought I'd listen for once, see if it works." Cassandra said retracting her hand.

"Well I don't need your help, anymore."

"Good." Cassandra said. "But if you do, come to the east side of town. Near the 7eleven there are a bunch of garages I'm in number 216. In case you need a place to eat a hot meal or crash for the night" Cassandra said turning around and gathering her stuff. "I really hope you make it out here on your own." Cassandra said before walking off.

Who was she to talk to her like that. Like she knew her. How did she know she'd need a place to sleep tonight? Was it that obvious? If it was she'd have to adapt quickly if she wanted to avoid getting caught.

She's taken care of the first problem, water, now she had to tackle the second. Food. She could go long stretches of time without food, mother frequently left her alone without food, sometimes for days. She'd been so tempted back then to go outside and look for food, but she was always too scared of her mother and what she’d do if she found out she'd disobeyed her. But she couldn't put off eating now, she was famished. After running for so long and walking for much longer she had burnt a lot of energy and she didn't have a lot of reserves she could fall back on. She had to eat.

She wandered the streets for a while hoping the answer would just appear in front of her. But eventually she had to face the fact that she had to accept Cassandra's help.

She wasn't sure if she could trust her. But it seemed like she genuinely cared. But left with no other choice did it really matter?

She made her way across town, which didn't take her long. The sun had set by now and her only lightsource were the street lanterns.

She walked past the rows of garages and eventually found number 216.

She stood in front of it quite unsure of what to do. She put her ear to the metal hoping to hear something but she couldn't She decided she could try knocking, if she was there then great, if she wasn't, no harm done.

She lifted her hand and knocked three times.

She waited for a while before the garage door lifted.

“Hello princess, you made it. I was hoping you would.” Cassandra said as she lifted the door further.

“I thought you hoped I would make it.”

“I do. And the best way to do that was to come here. Come in.” Cassandra said and she stepped inside. Cassandra left the door open and sat down on one of the bean bags.

She looked around and saw a bunch of stuff. Some things that looked to be quite expensive. Like a smoothie mixer, a hifi speaker, a lava lamp, an electric guitar and speaker among other things. There was a mattress in one corner and a tv in the other with some stacked chairs and the bean bag.

“Is all this stuff yours?”

“Hell no, this all belongs to some rich people with too much stuff. All this stuff was just laying around, waiting for someone to use it. So I am. I usually only stay for a couple days before moving on. The place has electricity and no one knows I’m here until I’m long gone. It’s perfect.”

“How long have you been here?” She asked as she walked around the room.

“Three days. Do you mind if I close the door again. It’ll get cold otherwise.”

She shrugged and Cassandra got up and closed the door again. She appreciated her asking and not making her feel like she was trapped.

“You must be hungry. I got just the thing.” Cassandra said as she walked to a bag stowed away behind some boxes. “Money.”

Cassandra handed her some money.

“What’s this?”

“That would be your ticket to the best meal of your life. And I know just the place.” Cassandra said. “If that’s what you want, I mean. I have some food here too if you’d rather stay here.”

“Lead the way.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had to walk for a bit before reaching the diner. They sat down at a booth opposite one another. The waitress came over handing them their menus.

“Can I pour you any drinks?”

“I’d like a coffee please.” Cassandra said.

“Uhm apple juice please.”

The waitress nodded and left them alone.

“How did you know?” She asked putting her menu down.

“Know what?” Cassandra said still looking at her menu

She looked at Cassandra and when their eyes met she put her menu down too.

“I was you. I had people who offered me help along the way, the only thing they asked in return was that I pay it forward. So whenever I see someone who needs help, I will.”

“How long have you been on your own?”

“My mom abandoned me when I was four and I’ve been bouncing around the country in the foster system for years. Until I ran away for the first time when I was fourteen.” Cassandra said in a cold and distant way. “This is your first time running away right?”

She nodded.

“Homophobic or abusive parent?”

She nodded again. Remembering why she was here and how made her very sad. Why couldn’t her mother let her loose, give her more freedom. Was this somehow her fault.

“This isn’t your fault.” Cassandra said putting her hand on hers. She didn’t know how Cassandra knew what to say but she was grateful anyway.

The waitress walked over to their table, Cassandra retracted her hand and the waitress took their orders and gave them their drinks.

“I don’t know why you decided to help me but thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure, princess.”

“That’s not my name, but it kinda makes sense seeing how you're my knight.”

“Well you never game me your name. I had to think of something.”

“It’s Rapunzel.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Rapunzel.” Cassandra said, shaking her hand. She liked the way her name sounded when Cassandra said it.

Their food arrived and they ate mostly in silence as she devoured her food. They talked about some other stuff and watched the local new channel.

“We are here with the mother of a missing teen. What happened?”

“My daughter has been kidnapped. She’d never run away from me I raised her too well. Such an obedient girl. I’d do anything to have her back home, safe and sound.”

“Can you describe the teen?”

“She has brown hair and green eyes. She has my fair skin and is about yay high.”

“If you see anyone matching this description please call your local police station.”

She watched the tv frozen as memories flooded her mind.

Cassandra squeezed her hand bringing her back. She looked back to her and their eyes locked. It helped ground her.

“Let’s go.” Cassandra said as put money on the table and she held her hand as she guided her all the way back to the garage.

Cassandra guided her to the mattress and tucked her in. Cassandra made her way to sleep in one of the bean bags but she told her to just share the mattress, it was big enough for both of them.

Cassandra never asked what happened and she was grateful for it. She wasn’t ready to talk about it. Not yet. She was still too upset about it.

She’d asked her mother if they could go outside together. Mother hadn’t liked that and got angry. She got angry too. She stood up for herself and things had escalated from there. Years of bottled up anger, unsatisfied with life. Always yearning to go outside. Waiting for the day her mother would let her out. She’d reached her limit, enough was enough and so during the heat of the moment she had run away.

Mother had started running after her but eventually gave up. She had thought she was safe, she was wrong. Mother had abandoned the chase so she could call the police and send them after her. That’s how she ended up in the forest with dogs chasing her.

She tried pushing the memories out of her mind. But seemed unable to. Silently tears stained her pillow.

Then Cassandra wrapped her body around hers and she started to feel herself relax just a tiny bit. She was safe now. Safe in Cassandra’s arms, at least for the night.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After that first night they were never apart. She travelled with Cassandra to other towns and travelled all over the country. She told Cassandra what had happened between her and her mother. Cassandra had just listened, she hadn’t judged. She found Cassandra could somehow feel just what she needed to say or do for her to feel loved. Mother never slowed down in her search and frequently appearing on the news to tell lies of an abduction instead of telling the truth. Cassandra helped her dye her hair blonde so she’d be harder to recognize. And in turn she helped Cassandra dye her hair blue, it looked really good on her.

Their relationship evolved very organically. Starting off as friends but soon treading the line in between before crossing the line and making their relationship explicit.

It wasn’t always easy but they had each other now, and that was all they needed. Eventually Cassandra started counting down they days until she’d turn eighteen, after that they no longer had to run. Her mother would have no power over her anymore and she’d truly be free. After a while she joined her in counting down the days.

In the weeks leading up to her birthday they decided to stay in this town for a while, see if they could start building a life. And they did. They stayed in a shelter for weeks while Cassandra got a job. She got a job as a mechanic for a small garage. The owner was a nice man who was happy to offer her a job where everyone else just turned her away.

The man used to be a professional motorcycle racer and sometimes took them to the race tracks. Cassandra turned out to have an aptitude for racing. Which made the man’s eyes light up like christmas lights. He offered to train her so they could enter races and they accepted. Cassandra got giddy like a child about a new toy every time she talked about it. But that did mean they’d need another mechanic. So she offered her services. She grew up reading all kinds of books. She always particularly liked all books mechanical, she love knowing how they worked. She soon became a better mechanic than Cassandra ever was, which Cassandra reminded her of often.

Eventually the man found out who she was and had threatened to call the police. But once they explained everything he calmed down. A few days later he asked them if they wanted to stay with him, until they were able to get a place of their own. They accepted, she’d turn eighteen in a few weeks.

That is where she found herself now, sitting on the sofa with her feet on the table and a plate of food on her lap. She was on her lunch break for the day.

Cassandra burst through the door with a giant smile on her face. She’d woken up alone this morning which made her very sad, today was her birthday. Had Cassandra somehow forgotten? No she couldn’t’ve, they’ve been counting down for so long there was no way she could forget.

“What are you so happy about?”

“Happy birthday princess.” Cassandra said as she leaned down and kissed her before sitting down on the sofa next to her. Cassandra was facing her and suddenly her face got very serious.

“Thank you, but that still doesn’t explain all this.” She said waving her hand to motion to all of Cassandra. “Also why did I wake up alone this morning? Where were you?” She said pouting.

“I think I have a pretty good excuse.” Cassandra said.

“Someone better be dead.” She said as a joke. “Wait sorry I hope no one’s dead. Please tell me no one died.”

“No one died.” Cassandra confirmed. “Why would I be happy about that anyway?”

“I don’t know maybe my mom died.” She mumbled picking at her food.

“Hey she doesn’t matter. Not ever, but especially not today.” Cassandra said cupping her cheek and moving her head so she could look at her eyes. “The reason why I’m so happy is because of this.” Cassandra said revealing a small box from behind her back.

“I swear if you bought an engagement ring before we get an apartment I’ll murder you.” She said and Cassandra shook her head.

“Open it.”

She put her plate down on the table and opened the box. When she did, tears filled her eyes. It was a set of keys.

“How.” She breathed out as she picked up the keys.

“Cap had some connections and pulled some strings, he also gifted us some money for the apartment. Combine that with all the money we saved from our hard work and we got it.”

She lunged herself at Cassandra and kissed her. They passionately kissed for a while before having to break apart for air. They rested their heads together, she had her hand framing Cassandra’s face and Cassandra’s were on her back and thigh.

“Happy birthday. To you.” Cassandra said as a toast.

“To us. To new beginnings.”

**Author's Note:**

> The references I put in were: 216, for the episode 2x16 'Rapunzel day one'. And the crossing the line reference. I put in other episode references in other days as well so now you can pay attention to those if you like.
> 
> I hope to see you all tomorrow.


End file.
